“POOR RICH” ITALY

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 234, 29 June 1922, Page 4

“POOR RICH” ITALY

IT’S AFTER-WAR TROUBLES

Visiting Wellington at the present time is a Wellington-born, Wellingtonbred resident, who has spent the last ten ’ years of his life in Italy,, and speaks with real understanding of life in that country in its many aspects —speaks as one with a deep love of its people and institutions, and of the joys and sorrows that beset the nation politically and industrially. As a foreword, he mentions that Italy, although only roughly about the area of New Zealand, and without half or quarter of the natural advantages that New Zealand possesses, sustains, somewhat precariously be it said, a population of some 40,000.000 people. “Italy has no great natural advantages in the way of raw materials, and has little to offer in the way of exports, save its wines, its olive oil, and its macaroni, and it cannot produce the wheat sufficient for its own consumption, and has to import grain to make up into flour for those' cellular delicacies in naste which form one of the chief items of food for the bulk of its people. For its metal industries, and some of them are larger than any in Australasia, it has to import almost everything. Practically speaking, all Italy has to offer js her labour, and'it is generally speaking, good, honest labour, eagerly sought and cheerfully given. Is it any wonder, then, that Italy is poor, nationally poor? Its very poverty stands in the way of its reclaiming what perhaps it rightly .should in order to redeem itself financially. . “The toilers from tho fields and factories (in the case of rural workers very poor, ignorant, well-intention-ed peonle) have since the war helped to make Italy’s' problems difficult. These men wore better fed and better 'clothed as soldiers than they had ever been before in their lives, and whilst in tho trenches learned the strange teachings of Socialism in its crudest, and perhaps most selfish, aspect. . A ' fcrnod proportion of them . felt disinclined to return to tho vineyards, the olive groves, and the scant wheat fields, and so stayed on in tho city, mingled with their kind, and so formed a numerous and somewhat dangerous element in the community. Under these conditions industrial troubles came thick and fast. The most extraordinary things began to occur. In Milan, wh«re there was still a Socialistic citv council when I left a few months ago,' the spectacle presented itself of a street-sweeper receiving as much salary as a Government school teacher, minor municipal officers drawing as much salary as university professors of great learning. The inevitable had to happen; it gave rise to ' the Facisti movement. The Facisti proved a healthy' and sturdy check to the Socialists. Of course, the Socialists are still strong, and I suppose will be until they get over the post-war fever 'and settle down to steady work once more. One result of such conditions was to create unemployment. People with money declined to venture it m industrial works, and wherever possible withdrew their capital for investmept in safer securities. And that must always be. “Y’et at bottom the Italian is a good fellow —loveable, hard working, and, in my opinion, honest.’ It was this streak of rottenness bred by the war, and the propaganda of countries who wished to bring about such conditions, which had upset him for a year or two. The city-dwelling Italians were great lovers of the arts and the opera. Tliev were emotional, of course, and loved to give and get thrills, and. being so, they got more out of life than the English, who, to them, always seemed to be bottling themselves up, and hiding every emotion, how-, ever pleasurable, under a mask . “Milan, to some extent, is a world's centre, kocal students from all parts of the world, from America particularly, flocked to the city tb cultivate ‘the Italian Method.' The majority of these had six or nine months at their disposal, and hoped to develop voices that would stagger the world. Needless to say, 98 per cent, of them failed. Likq all other large cities Milan had its charlatans in vocal tuition, who lived on these people. Each of these, if you would believe him, was a great maestro, and as it took foreigners a year or two to find that they were doing no good such men flourished, or at least made a living out of them. -On the other hand there were the best of teachers in the world, and the results they achieved wore often wonderful, for Italy still continued to turn out the .finest singers in the world, and a performance at La Scala under ( Toscanini, was still the finest thing in grand opera extant. Then as a centre Milan was unique in Europe. Seven hours in tho train and you were at Venice; if you want lake scenery Como was within an hour of the city, and Maggiore a little farther off. From the cathedral spiro on a clear day one oould see the Alps; ten hours in the train and Rome was revealed; and the Riviera was only fifteen hours away by train.”